Language

If there’s one book that everyone’s talking about these days, it’s “You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories.” In a debut collection of 11 stories over 288 pages, Kristen Roupenian writes the complex lives of contemporary urbanites exploring their friends, their family and, occasionally, their sexual desires. Roupenian, whose titular short story had become a viral internet sensation, really knows how to suck her reader in, even when the encounters described are sometimes unpleasant. If you think these stories aren’t fun to read, you’d be wrong. Luckily for our German readers, Berlin publisher Blumenbar has put out an excellent translation by Nella Beljan – esteemed colleague and former Cee Cee employee – and literary expert Friederike Schilbach. Crack open a copy and enjoy. (Text: Nina Trippel / Photos: Mina Aichhorn & Elisa Roupenian Toha)

The English version is called ”You Know You Want This: Cat Person and Other Stories” and published by Gallery/Scout Press. The German translation, titled ”Cat Person,” is published by Blumenbar.